April 26 is Alien Day, a fan holiday created to honor the legendary science-fiction horror franchise, and D3 Go’s mobile game Alien: Blackout is free to help you celebrate. Available for both iOS and Android, it’s a strategic and tense adventure that differs greatly from the series’ other games.
Rather than control a survivor directly, such as Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda, Alien: Blackout tasks you with guiding them through a damaged space station and away from the deadly, stalking Xenomorph. It also features permanent death for crew members if they’re killed, and you can sacrifice them in order to ensure Ripley survives.
Amanda Ripley previously appeared in Alien: Isolation, a first-person horror game from Creative Assembly. The game’s immersive-sim exploration was mixed with a deadly alien threat that could locate you almost anywhere. Murderous androids didn’t make things any easier. A true sequel has not been announced, though Alien: Blackout takes place after the game’s events.
The last Alien film was Alien: Covenant, released in 2017 as a sequel to Prometheus and retaining some of its cast. Games have released sporadically over the years, and Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski shared back in February that he had been in talks to create a new first-person shooter featuring Newt from Aliens as well as Ellen Ripley. His studio Boss Key would have produced it, though Disney’s acquisition of Fox ended talks.
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